The Penn's Grove record., 1887-05-14
MEETING STREAMS.
UIdLIbIfd1
of maidens, Florentinei

any one at the moment my Martina
made this announcement, for | was try
ing hard to finish a short story l had
sngaged.to write by a certain date for a
well-known magazine. For some days
past my clerical duties had been usually
heavy and time was precious. Besides,
[ was in the midst of an animated con-
versat;on between the two chief charac-
Eers in my tale, and this interruption
sadly disturbed its course. Still my
work could wait for a few minutes if it
was necessary.
"Who is it Martha?"
"a stranger, sir"
"Show him in" and with a sigh my
MS. is laid aside.
The person who entered my study
was a young fellow of some two and
twenty; tall, rather handsome, and with
a smile that took me at nee. l shook
hands with him and offered him a chair.
"My name is Davies" he said.
"You are not likely to know anything
about me, as l came here yesterday. |
need some help, and l have come to ask
you for it,"
Mr.. Davies spoke shyly, and, indeed
it Was easy to see that he was not an
ordinary beggar. | could not tell that
it was money he wanted, but my expe-
renee led me to suppose it was. No
one knew better than l how often men
like him had gone to wreck and ruin for
lack of some timely assistance in this
vast northwest, and if | could be of use
30 him it was my plain duty to be SO.
ttI do not know if / have any C aim
upon YOU" he continued, "but 1 was
looking through a directory in a store
this morning, wondering If l could
chance on the name of a friend, when
I noticed yours, sir-Mr. Stephenson.
Some near relations of mine in the old
countryar called Steyenson-S-t-e-v-e-n-
son." he spelt the word and then went
ON with a wistful air;
Your name is not spelt quite in the
same way" he observed, but ''directo-
ries are not always correct, and the
name is not a common one. Perhaps
you are a connection of these friends of
mine; they live at Pocklington in Sur
rey."
No; 1 had not even heard of the Ste
vensons of Pocklington; but l had
watched MI. Davies attentively while
he made his statement, and come to the
conclusion that it had not been manu-
featured for the occasion. 1t had rather
the air Of something of the kind, but
the mans manne made me believe that
he was sincere. Would he say in what
way l might be of use to him? His
hopes had evidently been a good deal
dashed, for he continued in a slower
graver tone:
1.-TWO years ago 1 came from Eng
land to Canada. | was at Rugby, sir;
and my father is a clergyman. When
l left school l was articled to a solicitor,
but l did not take kindly to desk work.
l soon knew that L was not cut out for
that sort of thing. However, / did not
think of anything else until a cousin of
mine, who had settled near Toronto
his farm is a few miles north OF the city
wrote for me to come out to him. l
jumped at the offer. L didn't know
anything about farming-which would
be against me, but / could learn. In
any case / was sure l should like its
free, open-air life q long way better
than the atmosphere of q stuffy Office"
| nodded approval. If Mr.. Davies
had set about to win my entire sympa-
thy he could not have hit upon a better
plan to gain it. / had often pointed
out that we Canadians are for the most
part an agricultural people, and had
deplored that so many of our young
men were not content to stay on their
fathers farms, but went to the city. l
had preached to many a lad, better be a
farmer any day than a clerk. OF course,
'sHe that will to Cupar maun to Gu
par,n as the wise Scotch proverb says,
but, in most cases the exchange from
the country to the town is not a beneli-
cial one.
"Well,n continued Mr.. Davies, 81
stayed with my cousin until a few days
ago. Last month | received a letter
from an old schoolmate called Thomp-
son, who is r%anching beyond Calgary,
asking me to go out to join him. It's
rather q wild life, but | thought l
would like it; so 1 left Toronto and
reached Winnipeg yesterday. l find l
have not quite enough money TO take
me to Calgary; where Jim Thompson is
to meet me. i have $33 and some cents,
but l need a few dollars more. Will
you kindly lend me a small sunni"
How much do you require?" l
asked. 1.-THE fare is about $40," he
said suggestively.
Suppose l lend you $40; win that
do?D
Eyes, sir. I'll send you the money
back as soon as / see Jim Thompson.
He told me before l started he would
pay my passage out to him if necessary,
but l thought l had enough. OF course,
/ might stay in town and wait till l
hear from him, but it would be a waste
of time"
/ agreed with him. Then l wrote out
a check in favor of Edward Davies and
handed it to him. He thanked me and
withdrew. l went back TO my MS,
and succeeded in picking up the thread
of my story.
e., .,oalxa LATE, tla llo. xr,oo rnnofI